Saturday, June 04, 2005

The Associated Press reported that a Salvadoran court has requested information from US authorities in connection with a possible request to extradite Luis Posada Carriles to El Salvador. Posada Carriles is implicated in a series of terrorist acts including (a) the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner which killed 73, (b) a string of bombings of hotels in Cuba in 1997, and (c) a plot to assassinate Fidel Castro in 2000. He snuck into the US earlier this year, but was taken into custody by immigration authorities in May. Both Cuba and Venezuela have been loudly demanding that the US extradite Posada Carriles to those countries for trial for his actions.

According to the AP,

Posada, who was arrested May 17 on immigration charges in the United States, is implicated [in El Salvador] in three cases of use of false documents. Posada, a Cuban-born former CIA agent, lived in El Salvador for several years under an assumed name.

[Salvadoran] court spokesman Jose Luis Funes said Judge Alba Estela Zelaya is asking U.S. officials and the international police agency Interpol "to clarify what is the real situation" of Posada Carriles.

"The judge wants to know who has him, what is his situation and then study existing treaties and solicit his extradition based on the treaties," Funes said....

Posada was arrested in Panama in 2000 after Castro alleged the man was planning to kill him during a summit there. That led to a public argument between then-Salvadoran President Francisco Flores and Castro, who accused El Salvador of knowingly harboring Posada.

Many are watching the US actions with Posada Carriles to see if the Bush administration's anti-terror rhetoric applies equally to a terrorist who directed his acts towards the Castro regime in Cuba. The FMLN and other groups on the left in El Salvador have protested the possibility that Posada Carriles might be sent to El Salvador, insisting that he be sent to Cuba for trial.

No comments:

Welcome!

This is Tim's El Salvador Blog, a place for looking at what's going on in El Salvador. Participate in the discussion by adding your comments. This site began November 17, 2004. For older articles be sure and check the archives.